Case Number 110077 - Novel Therapy for Type I Diabetes

T regulatory cells are very powerful down
modulators of immune responses. We for the first
time have shown that CD137pos cells are
functionally and phenotypically different than
normal Tregs and are more suppressive of immune
function. In addition, we have now shown that
CD137pos Tregs make large amounts of the spliced
variant of CD137, soluble CD137.

Soluble CD137 has been described as increased in
the serum of patients with autoimmune diseases, but
its function is not well understood. We have evidence
from studies that soluble CD137 is highly
suppressive of T cell function and proliferation.

We have in fact cloned soluble CD137 into a
lentiviral vector and have shown that we can both
prevent Type I diabetes, and control new onset
diabetes in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice with our
recombinant soluble CD137. Thus we have
demonstrated that soluble CD137 has bioactivity
against autoimmune diseases in vivo.